Monday, August 02, 2004

Shower thought of the day: Is the technology industry a primetime soap opera?

I'm not talking about unbelievable antics and drama queens, though both Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison can give any soap opera hero/villain a run for their money.

Rather, I'm talking about how primetime soap operas rise and fall in 5 year cycles. The soap opera fits our times; the 80s give rise to Dallas and Dynasty, only to see their tales of glittering excess fall short in the 90s. The 90s gave rise to Melrose Place, decidedly more down-market, but considerably sexed up. So far, the 2000s have given us new fare like "The OC," pushing the age of lost innocence further and further away from the traditional definition of adulthood.

It doesn't take much imagination to think of the DECs and Wangs giving way to the IBMs, giving way to the Dells. "Jumping the shark" ain't just for TV shows.

What is it that makes the prime time soap so topical and cyclical? Can we, the technology industry, learn any lessons from the Heather Locklears of the world?